Three Deaf Mice? Not Anymore!

Oct 24, 2014 -

Some amazing results from the world of animal science: scientists have successfully restored hearing in deaf mice!

By inserting and activating certain genes:

The mice that produced extra NT3 regained their hearing over a period of two weeks and were able to hear a lot better than mice that did not have extra production of the protein.

Next stop: humans suffering hearing loss from noise exposure or aging. It really wasn’t that long ago that people looked to instrument makers and ear trumpets for relief — a bulky, imperfect solution; actually recovering hearing is simply an awesome feat!

Don’t forget to hug a scientist (and a mouse) this weekend!